“It’s important for things to cool off a bit in the housing market, because too-fast appreciation risks burning both buyers and sellers,” Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement. “This slowdown is a critical step on the road back to a normal housing market.”

The cooling trend is playing out nationally as well. Across the U.S., prices climbed 4.8% from a year earlier, the smallest increase since October 2012.